Final Fight
by Shi-chan13
Summary: Kazuki has been working his way up in the kick-boxing world for one goal. To beat Ruo. Now his chance has come as he will be competing with Ruo in a title match. Set in the final fight of volume 3, read to find out who will win! One-shot.


Shi-chan13: So, I was really bored and my sister pionted out that there was only two Punch! fanfics so I decided to write this. It's set for during the final fight between Ruo and Kazuki. It's in Kazuki's POV. Oneshot.

Disclaimer: I don't own Punch! If I did you would know how the final fight ended.

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I fainted left and slipped in a right hook. Of course Ruo didn't fall for it. Exactly the opposite. He blocked it perfectly. I could tell I was slipping up just a little bit. Nothing the crowd would notice, though. The lights over head were making my sweating body even hotter and the cheering of the crowd was beginning to distract me from the fight. _No! _I yelled mentally. _I have to win this. For Elle!_

Elle, who introduced me to martial arts. Elle, who had trained with me each day for this fight. Elle, who made me food and worried about me when I was late coming back to the gym. Elle, who was the light in my life and who guided me through each day. I would win this for her.

She had been such a crucial part in my life these past few months. She had so much confidence in me. I couldn't disappoint her. I _would_ free her from Ruo. I dodged a punch he threw at me.

It wasn't that I only wanted to win this for Elle though. My pride had been wounded by Ruo. I would do the same thing to him. I brought my bent knee up at aimed at Ruo's stomach. He blocked again and brought his hands down towards my head. He fist wizzed by my face as I moved out of the way, but he didn't go unawarded. My shoulder toook the full force of the blow causing me to stagger.

Ruo took advantage of my quick break in concentration to land a punch on my jaw. I recovered before he could get in another hit. Obviously, he was proud that he had gotten in the first hit of the match. Dodging each other was the only thing we had been doing for the past two rounds. I wanted so badly to wipe that smug smile off his ugly little face.

Rage took over me for a fraction of a second and brought me back to the street fighting style I had previously used to fight. The switch in fighting styles got Ruo off his rythm. I saw an opening in his right side and took it. The impact as my fist connected with his ribs made me lock my jaw to the point that my teeth were aching. _Oh well. At least I got a hit in._ I unlocked my jaw and changed back to kick-boxing style.

This time I was ready when Ruo lunged at me. I blocked his punch, but I didn't see his next move. I felt his gloved hand hit me hard in the stomach, knocking most of the breath out of me. I staggered back and Ruo punched me again. Then he slammed his knee into my side.

By the yells and cries of distress from the crowd, I wasn't doing so hot. To tell the truth, I didn't feel so hot either. Ruo kept attacking me over and over again, never letting me get the chance to regain my concetration, let alone the upper hand. The blows kept on coming. _Man! Where does he get all his energy?_

My body was slowing down. My reflexes weren't as good as they had been in the beginning of the fight. Blood was trickling down my forehead and running into my left eye. I had to close it. Now, I didn't have depth perception. I was losing and I knew it, the crowd knew it and worst of all, Ruo knew it. It seemed to give him a new burst of energy.

Ruo danced around me. "How does it feel? To get beaten down by the man you swore to defeat? I thought that you might be a worthy opponent, but I guess you were all bark, no bite. How disapointing!" I groaned as he hit my face.

When I was about to give up, I heard a voice near the ring call out to me. "Go Kazuki! Don't give up now! Keep your hands up! Don't let that jerk mess with your head!" I didn't need to look to know who it was. Elle was cheering me on. Being in my own world with Ruo in the ring had blocked out all voices or at least making them incoherent to me. Including hers.

I don't know if having Ruo knock me around was the cause, but now I could hear her clearly.

"Dogde left, Kazuki!" Elle cried. It was like a natural instinct to follow her commands. It also saved me what would have been a crushing blow from Ruo. Elle called out orders to me again. "Okay, now bring up a left hook, then your right knee!" Ruo hadn't thought I would have enough strength to carry this out, but somehow-I think it was because of Elle's support- I found the hidden reserves of energy in my body. Ruo didn't have enough time to dodge or block my swings. He almost doubled over as I hit him.

He got up quickly though. I saw flames of anger in his eyes. He was practically radiating hate. He came at with such speed, I barely saw him coming. A trio of punches to the stomach and one to the head had me down on the ground. The referee came out to start the countdown for the time I had left to get up. Ruo faced the crowd and recieved the cheers they gave him.

I only had a few seconds left. _Get up! _my mind cried. _Get up!_ That was when I heard Elle's voice again.

"Kazuki! Get up! You still have some fight in you left. I know you do!"

My body obeyed her yells. _Oh,_ I thought sarcasticly to my body, _you'll listen to her, but won't even give a second to what the guy that controls you says._

The crowd's surprised gasps brought Ruo's attention back to me. His smile faded. _Good. I hated that smile._ He got back into his stance and prepared to come at me again.

Meanwhile, I got ready for his attack, gathering all that was left of my reserves. I was putting all my strength into this punch and if this didn't bring him down for the count then I might as well give up. I took a deep breath and listened for Elle's voice once more. "Here he comes, Kazuki! Get ready!" I saw Ruo come at me just as she said. Three yards. Two yards. One yard. "Now! Punch him now!" Again, I did just as she said.

I let my fist snap forwarrd with all the strength I could manage and felt it smack Ruo right in the face. He fell down to the mat, unconcious. The referee declared me the winner and held up my hand for all to see. I wasn't really listening. I was too tired to appreciate the fact that I had finally beaten Ruo. The referee let go and my knees gave way. I was on my way to the ground when I was caught by someone. Someone short. I looked to my side to see Elle holding me up. She smiled at me, tears in he eyes. "You really did it! You beat Ruo and freed me from him! I'm so proud of you."

By some miracle I had enough energy left to grab Elle by the back of the neck and kiss her on her lips. When I pulled away from her, she was blushing. "No. I didn't do it. _We_ did it!"

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Shi-chan13: So I hope you liked it. I only had an idea for a One-shot though. Sorry it wasn't that long. I might do another one if I get a good idea. Anyway, please review!


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